After a long day with the kids in the hospital I gave my phone a check while still in the Clara Maass parking garage. On Facebook my buddy Abe, of Marthas Vineyard artist fame, was just sitting down to do a Facebook Live fly tying session. It was just what I needed to keep me company during the long drive home.
It was refreshing to watch someone go back to the basics and just sit down and tie. Abe focused on tying Bob's Bucktail Deceivers which is a fly that morphed out of Lefty's Deceiver. The difference is Popovic's stuck with bucktail through and through while Kreh used both bucktail and schapplen feathers out the back. In recent years we have seen a plethora of tiers sit and spend a lot of time creating works of art on flies, that may or not be fished, Pieciak kept it simple and demonstrated that quick and simple ties not only look good enough but can be effective when fished.
Abe is a tue artist, and like many, his works can be easily identified as soon as you see them. To me, his signature works are those created paining an outer thing, like a fish or a part of one, a crustacean, or even an outline of his beloved Marthas Vineyard. Inside he paints baits, mostly plugs but sometimes flies, to fill in between the neatly drawn borders. I first saw Abe's works hanging prominently in Bob's attic or at The Shady Rest.
Last year during my annual trip to the Vineyard I was able to stop by "The Shed" and spend some time inside his studio where he both paints and creates works used from recycled materials found around the island. His series of the "Smoking Gull" can be found in print, apparel, and in woodworks.
As I drove down the New Jersey Turnpike I fond myself amongst the truckers and commuters which are normal for a February evening. While the weather and scenery may change with the seasons it's basically the same thing all year round. Even as I pulled in my driveway it's the same neighborhood with the same people just tucked inside now due to the cold and dreary February weather. But I thought of Abe sitting in down up in the Vineyard. It's off season up there, which means it's the resident only skeleton crew of die-hards who call the island home, all year round.
During the summer season, where the number of people on the island goes from 20,000 to 200,000, it must be really annoying to those people who hold it down all year long. That can be said for any touristy destination such as the Jersey Shore from Sandy Hook down to Cape May. But this is an island, and there's really no where to go, unless you jump on a ferry and head over to the mainland.
While the Vineyard is a wonderful place to visit, and fish, it must hard during the off-season to keep it together, both physically and mentally. Touristy areas shut down during the off seasons, people either Snow Bird or choose to vacation themselves, and I would assume the cold, and with less people around, must get lonely from time to time. Now some people thrive in isolation, but I can only talk to myself, and the same people, only so much.
And living in a seasonal destination location is a different way of living. Our friends in Cape May who own a lovely home near the beach, my sister who lives in Saranac Lake, as well as people on the Vineyard, choose to defray the costs of living in paradise by moving out and renting their houses during the silly season of summer. Imagine being "stuck", if you will, indoors during the winter months and then having to move out of your house just as the gettin's good. But in places that have homes with a price tag that exceeds the income to debt ratio and with high taxes this has become an annual ritual for some.
For those locals that depend on the onslaught of tourists to make a living, in the food, hospitality, fishing, entertainment, arts, and maintenance, the winter months must be a financial dry spell during the wet and wintery season. It must take a financially prudent person to manage monies between the cash drought of now and good times when the invaders come by car, boat, and plane. I guess if you're lucky you have a year-round hustle, either in the teaching, medical, bar and restaurant (if it's still open), or police, fire, and public works positions.
As I joined Abe for the two-plus hour presentation I couldn't help but think of my own plans for this year's trek to the Vineyard. Long gone are the days of finding a cheap place to call home before that third week of June's summer rates kick in. Even with VRBO and Air BnB a small place will run you $ 2-300 a night, that's if you want an indoor shower, a place to boil some water, and a private bathroom. And if you do find a place then you have to add to the trips cost getting there and back on the ferry. Add in gas around the island, food while you're there, a few stops at Coop's or Larry's, and you're looking at a hefty bill, all to fish that may or not be there when you're there. In recent years the only thing that's been there are the winds, everyday, and from all different directions.
As Abe laid down the bucktail on the long-shanked hooks I was brought back to the simplicity that effective fly tying can be. No reverse ties, no multi material ties, just some bucktail, some thread, and some glue to keep it all down. Like he said last night, "You can play with it like you want", and I took that as wise words from an artist, who stays away from "Keeping up with the Joneses", in the latest social media tiers of today, and just keeps it simple in a way to please both himself and the fish he throws them to. It's his testament to the innovators who came up with the original patterns that still get it done today.
When I finally plopped on my couch he was tying up a squid fly, which can be deadly on the Vineyard when these cephalopods are on the hunt for sand eels and baitfish. While I haven't been on a boat on the Middle Ground or fished Wasque Shoal off of Chappy, I have encountered squid from time to time while on foot, usually at night. It's a nice break to throw bigger flies at patrolling striped bass different from tiny black sand eel flies, white bunny flies, and even crab patterns during the daytime hours.
This spring I'll definitely add some squid flies to my arsenal if and when I get around to putting a trip together. And I'll just sit down and tie it like Abe did last night. Without the pressure and the rules of how, with what, and in what order we have to tie flies these days. For me I'd rather take my cues from those that tie and fish, rather than those who tie and display. In the end it's all good, "Just positive vibes", as Abe said several times last night.